Today was a busy day in labor talks as the players union met in Las Vegas and the NBA officials and owners gathered in a Board of Governors meeting in Dallas.
The players union reiterated the fact that its members are unified and they will stand by each other until a new CBA is signed. In a letter to the union, president Derek Fisher wrote that the owners were in fact fighting among themselves and did not share the same opinions.
After recently wrapping up the Dallas meeting, NBA Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver spoke to the press and provided some optimistic news. In the negotiations, the NBA signed a deal with the NBA Referees Associations and Stern told the reporters that labor talks also went well.
Despite the comments in Fisher’s letter, Stern said the owners were completely unified. “There is virtually unanimity on approach, we have a very unified Board and committee,” added Stern.
Both sides have said they are in total harmony; the owners are in agreement with the various topics and they can finally promote their CBA ideas to the Union.
“I think it’s fair to say that the Board was well briefed, they expressed their full support for the committee and we look forward to continuing to engage with the Union over the possibility that we might reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.”
The owners, league officials and Player’s Union will be heading to New York City later today. It seems as though the parties will likely meet again soon, and this is a crucial step in signing a new CBA. Now that the sides are in sync among themselves, true progress can be made. The groups will likely not change their stances, and there is now more time for them to pitch their proposals.
“The clock is ticking, said Stern, “but it hasn’t stuck midnight yet. We have time to do what has to be done and we’d like to do it actually.”
